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Facts you didn't know about Jonathan Archer
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00:00How's it going, my dudes? This video's brought to you by Squarespace today.
00:04He's the man who got the ball rolling, he's the man with the plan,
00:07and he's asking you to take a leap with him into the future.
00:10Yes, that was cheesy. No, I don't care.
00:13I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 things you didn't know about Jonathan Archer.
00:18Number 10. Star Trek The Beginning.
00:21Having wanted another series set in the 24th century to follow on from Star Trek Voyager,
00:24the folks at Paramount were initially rather hesitant about Rick Berman and Brandon Braga's idea for a prequel.
00:30We needed to find something that got back closer to the beginning of what this whole franchise was about,
00:34Braga said in the season 1 DVD extra Creating Enterprise.
00:38If they hadn't, there probably wouldn't have been a Jonathan Archer, or at least not the one we know today.
00:43Moreover, it's highly doubtful Scott Bakula would have played whatever captain was in it.
00:47As the actor told William Shatner in his series The Captains,
00:50I wasn't interested in the next captaincy and the curse of having to follow.
00:55Whilst Bakula did eventually accept, more on that next, and the prequel did, of course, get the green light,
00:59the studio still insisted, and without shred of irony, that something futuristic be included
01:04in the form of the temporal Cold War.
01:06The end of Enterprise could have also seen a different kind of beginning for Star Trek
01:10in the abandoned yet fully drafted film Star Trek The Beginning.
01:14The story, completed in late 2006, was set four years after Terra Prime and featured,
01:18for the most part, an entirely new cast of characters.
01:21Captain Archer does get a fleeting mention nevertheless.
01:23When asked about them, Archer and crew are said to be on Risa.
01:26I guess you've got to get your downtime sometime, even if the Romulans might prefer otherwise.
01:31Number nine.
01:32It had to be you, Bakula.
01:35Quite contrary to the casting of other contemporary Star Trek captains,
01:38one wig flown in from London, one frustrated French-Canadian, and a surplus of possible Ciscos,
01:43it seems the studio and producers had their eyes on Scott Bakula for Captain Archer from the start,
01:47apparently not considering anyone else for the role.
01:50Indeed, as Star Trek director James L. Conway stated in the 50-year mission The Next 25 Years,
01:55Scott Bakula was the only actor ever discussed for Archer.
01:58Everyone else might have wanted him, but it was Bakula himself,
02:01not wanting to follow in the footsteps of William Shatner at all,
02:04who needed a little more, but not too much, convincing to accept the part.
02:08Bakula was already a Star Trek fan, having fallen in love with the original series
02:11whilst watching it in reruns in college in the 1970s.
02:14It was, in part, his fandom that led him to turn down the part of Archer when first offered.
02:19It was only the idea of going 100 years before it all that hooked Bakula in,
02:23as he commented in the Season 1 DVD Extra Cast Impressions,
02:27they said,
02:27we'd like you to be the first captain on the first starship.
02:29I think they knew before they asked me that that was going to get my interest,
02:32and I tried not to act too excited.
02:34They pretty much had me from that point on, and the rest is history.
02:37Number 8.
02:38We've been talking about Jackson.
02:40Star Trek has always pondered over what to call its captains since the very beginning,
02:44from Robert April to James Winter, sometimes spring,
02:47to Christopher Pike to James R. or T. Kirk,
02:51with plenty more names on that list of possibilities.
02:53For the original prequel that dropped the Star Trek from Star Trek until its third season,
02:58there was perhaps already a certain degree of certainty, in a way.
03:01Archer was shot out into space in and after Broken Bow,
03:04but before any temporal Cold War,
03:07it's his first name that the extraordinary everyman that was in flux.
03:10The series Bible for Enterprise states,
03:12The Kirks and Picards in Janeways will one day have the benefit of the captains who preceded them,
03:16but Jackson Archer is the prototype.
03:19The NX-01 captain was then referred to in the diminutive Jack
03:22as late as a revised version of the Broken Bow script dated 11th May 2001,
03:28before getting what almost counts as an upgrade to the real thing in the English language as
03:32Jonathan before filming began.
03:34The reason for the renaming was pretty basic.
03:36It was just a clearance thing, as Scott Bakula told Cinefantastique in October 2001.
03:40At the time, there was only one person in all of the United States called Jackson Archer,
03:44meaning the name couldn't be used,
03:46but there were 20 or more Jonathan Archers, so that one was fine.
03:50Later, in the novel Beneath the Raptor's Wing,
03:52Archer got the non-canon middle name Beckett,
03:55and it shouldn't be too much of a leap to see why.
03:58Number 7. Chuck Yeager, Han Solo, Water Polo.
04:02As inspirations for a character go,
04:03there's little more eclectic than a mash-up between the first person to break the sound barrier
04:07and a rebel with a heart from another galaxy.
04:09That was the Chuck Yeager-Han Solo mix imagined for Captain Archer by producers
04:13Bronin Braga and Rick Berman in the early stages of development for Enterprise.
04:17Since the series was going back to the beginnings of Starfleet,
04:19the first foray into deep space with the Warp 5 engine,
04:22a different kind of captain was required,
04:24less polished, more down-to-earth,
04:26and accessible with a sense of excitement and awe still intact.
04:30This was the Han Solo quality, or a younger Harrison Ford, they were after,
04:34as Berman described it in the DVD audio commentary for Broken Bow.
04:37As for the real-world other half of the equation,
04:40in the Season 1 DVD extra Creating Enterprise,
04:43Rick Berman asked,
04:44Where was the right stuff of Starfleet?
04:46Where were the Chuck Yeagers of Starfleet?
04:48Where were the people who truly made the first flights out into space?
04:52If Yeager had humble beginnings and went on to do exceptional things,
04:56Captain Archer was arguably a little more elitist in the first place,
04:59especially in his pick of his favourite sport,
05:01University Water Polo.
05:02The sport did feel closer to home than your Anbujutsu's Parisi Squares,
05:06or even baseball on the holodeck ever could,
05:08but it certainly wasn't down-to-earth,
05:10if such a thing is possible, for someone who travels to the stars.
05:13Number 6.
05:14Windy, Breezy, Prada, Props.
05:16Everyone on board a starship is important,
05:18from captain to crew member,
05:19and this especially during Earth's first Warp 5 flight.
05:22Each has a vital role to play,
05:24whether it's,
05:24Oh, who are we kidding?
05:25It's Porthos.
05:26Porthos is the best and most important good boy there ever was in Starfleet.
05:29Who else would be content with just a slither of cheese,
05:32even though he and Cheddar didn't get along?
05:33The first captain's pet on Star Trek,
05:36unless you count Livingston,
05:38Porthos was a constant and faithful companion to Archer throughout.
05:42What you perhaps didn't know is that Porthos was played by three different dogs over the years.
05:47A male named Windy,
05:48probably all the cheese,
05:49in the first season and thereafter two females called Breezy and Prada.
05:53Producers considered numerous breeds of dogs for the role,
05:56but became enamored with the Beagle when they were brought in to audition.
05:59The episode A Night in Sickbay also required two prop Porthoses,
06:04one for the super hydration chamber and another for the quarantine box,
06:07designed and built by Harlow FX.
06:09Forget his owner, Porthos was the star of the show.
06:12As Andre Bormanis, executive story editor and writer,
06:15put it in the season four DVD extra,
06:17Enterprise Goes to the Dogs,
06:18She's a scene stealer,
06:19so we try to use the dogs sparingly.
06:21People have pitched any number of Porthos episodes.
06:24The four-legged pioneer was once even interviewed by StarTrek.com,
06:28but it's way past April Fool's by now.
06:30Number five,
06:31Jacquieuse.
06:33Behind the scenes on Star Trek Enterprise was a tale of two halves.
06:36On the one hand,
06:37cast and crew got on swimmingly,
06:38became pals,
06:39see Connor Trenier and Dominic Keating,
06:41and clearly loved working with Scott Bakula.
06:43On the other,
06:44the ship was barely out of dry dock,
06:45when a sword of Damocles appeared waiting to fall.
06:47For a myriad of reasons still debated to this day,
06:50Enterprise lived under constant threat of cancellation
06:52from pretty much the second season onwards.
06:55John Billingsley once pranked Bakula on set with a surprise pregnancy,
06:58shouting,
06:58Jacquieuse, Jacquieuse,
07:00in hilarious fashion.
07:01In reality,
07:01by the end of season three,
07:03network UPN was pointing fingers at Bakula
07:05and his portrayal of Captain Archer,
07:07blaming him,
07:08at least in part,
07:09for the low ratings.
07:10UPN even made renewal for a fourth season conditional
07:13on Bakula's removal from the show,
07:15which Rick Berman refused to allow.
07:17In the 50-year mission,
07:18The Next 25 Years,
07:19season four showrunner Manny Cotto also claimed that,
07:22whilst we were always going to stick with Scott,
07:24he did recall that a debate was had about killing off Archer
07:27and bringing on a brand new character
07:29to add some fresh drama to the fourth season.
07:31Thankfully,
07:32that was vetoed too.
07:34Number four,
07:34what a future guy?
07:37Whatever the network came to think about Scott Bakula,
07:39it's clear that the cast and crew were unanimous
07:41in their adoration of the man.
07:42He set the tone from the top
07:44for a healthy and fun working environment
07:45from the get-go,
07:46made sure to remember birthdays,
07:48introduced himself to every guest cast member
07:50and shook everyone's hand at the end of the day.
07:52The season one DVD extra,
07:54Oh Captain, My Captain,
07:55a profile of Scott Bakula,
07:56is almost radioactive with praise for the actor.
07:59Here is to quote but a few,
08:00Andre Bormanis,
08:01Scott Bakula is the nicest guy in the world.
08:04He is just an extraordinarily thoughtful,
08:06giving person.
08:07John Billingsley,
08:07he's just the nicest man
08:09I think I've ever worked with in the business
08:10and I've been at it a long time.
08:12Conor Trenere,
08:13the way in which he handles himself,
08:14it's textbook for getting along in this business
08:16and with other actors
08:17and we all know other actors
08:19aren't always the easiest to get along with.
08:21In the show itself,
08:22there was a well-known
08:23and distinctly shadier
08:24guy
08:25whose identity
08:26would have been revealed
08:27had Enterprise made it into a fifth season.
08:29As Brannon Braga stated on Twitter,
08:31Archer as future guy
08:32was always the idea.
08:34Trying to repair a corrupt future
08:35by influencing his innocent past self,
08:38several other season five ideas
08:40have been revealed
08:41in the years since cancellation,
08:42one of which
08:43that made it to the pitching stage
08:44was for the crew to meet Flint
08:46from the episode
08:47Requiem for Methuselah,
08:49who might then have also known
08:50Captain Archer's dad,
08:52Henry Archer.
08:53Number three,
08:54Magic Mirror.
08:55As Mirror Archer
08:56goes on a mad power grab
08:58for the Empire
08:58aboard the Defiant,
08:59his Prime Universe counterpart
09:01or at least an imagined version of him
09:02becomes a reflection
09:03for all of his failings.
09:05In essence,
09:06we got two Archers
09:06for the price of one.
09:07The clever conceit
09:08of future ship parallel universe
09:10also provided an opportunity
09:11to give us,
09:12the audience,
09:13some canonical information
09:14we might not have gotten otherwise.
09:16By now,
09:16we've all taken a long pause
09:17over the personnel files
09:18of both Hoshi Sato
09:19and Jonathan Archer
09:21as they are summoned up
09:22in the mirror
09:22that is the computer screen
09:24in the quarters
09:24of the Defiant's former Captain.
09:26What never made it to air,
09:27however,
09:28was the second page
09:29of biographical information
09:30for both characters
09:31penned by
09:32In a Mirror Darkly scriptwriter
09:33Michael Sussman.
09:34For Hoshi,
09:35that would have meant
09:36death at the hands
09:37of Kodos the Executioner
09:38on Tarsus IV
09:39at age 117.
09:41However,
09:41as Sussman said on Twitter
09:43in reply to TrekCore.com,
09:44didn't appear on screen,
09:45so not really canon.
09:47Hashtag
09:47Hoshi's still dead though.
09:48Also in reply to TrekCore,
09:50Sussman posted
09:50the extra unseen page
09:52from Admiral
09:53retired Archer's bio
09:54from which we would have learned
09:56that he died peacefully
09:57in his home
09:57in upstate New York
09:58in the year 2245
10:00exactly one day
10:01after attending
10:02the christening ceremony
10:03of the first
10:04Federation starship
10:05enterprise
10:05NCC-1701.
10:08I gather he survived
10:09in the Kelvin timeline,
10:10Sussman added.
10:11Number two,
10:12who's the evilest
10:13of them all?
10:14That Mirror Archer's fate
10:15was left fairly ambiguous
10:16as he slumped to the floor
10:18at the end of
10:18In a Mirror Darkly,
10:20maybe he just couldn't
10:20handle his champagne,
10:21was a deliberate move.
10:22As Manny Cotto revealed
10:24at the Star Trek Las Vegas
10:25convention in 2009,
10:27for Enterprise's
10:27hypothetical fifth season,
10:29discussions were had
10:29for a return to the Mirror Universe
10:31over four to five episodes
10:33as a mini-series
10:34within a series.
10:35Ranambraga also later revealed
10:37on Twitter
10:37that there was even talk
10:38of setting all of season five
10:40in the Mirror Universe.
10:41For some,
10:42in the third season,
10:43Prime Archer
10:44already mirrored
10:45his otherworldly equivalent
10:46all too well.
10:47The season's second episode,
10:48Anomaly,
10:49contains the extremely
10:50controversial airlock torture scene
10:52of an Osarian prisoner.
10:53Whilst there were those
10:54who defended his actions
10:55as those of a desperate
10:56captain trying to save billions,
10:58others decried it
10:59as the complete antithesis
11:00to the moral values
11:01of Star Trek.
11:02It certainly did feel
11:02more like how a member
11:03of the Terran Empire
11:04would have handled
11:05the situation.
11:06It wasn't just the fans
11:07who were divided
11:07over the darker turn
11:08taken by Archer
11:09in season three's
11:109-11 Allegory.
11:11Phlox actor
11:11John Billingsley
11:12also notably expressed
11:13his objections
11:14to the airlock torture scene
11:15and to aspects
11:16of season three in general
11:17that, to his mind,
11:19strayed from the ethos
11:20of Star Trek
11:20and left him feeling
11:21uncomfortable.
11:23Number 1
11:23Leaving a legacy
11:24The pioneering captain
11:26and crew of the NX-01
11:27were thoroughly
11:28underappreciated
11:29at the time of first broadcast
11:30of Star Trek Enterprise.
11:31Some blamed franchise fatigue,
11:33others network scheduling,
11:34studio dramas,
11:35the temporal Cold War
11:36and that theme tune.
11:38Enterprise finally found
11:38the viewership it deserved
11:39in the streaming era
11:41and Captain Archer himself
11:42has enjoyed somewhat
11:43of a renaissance
11:44in terms of his
11:45in-universe legacy,
11:46although we're still waiting
11:47for a more literal rebirth.
11:48The re-appreciation
11:49of the character
11:50on screen began back
11:51in the J.J. Abrams reboot
11:53when Scotty admitted
11:54to losing Admiral Archer's
11:56prized Beagle
11:57in a transwarp
11:58memeing experiment.
11:59Surely not, Porthos,
12:00surely not.
12:01Later, in Star Trek Discovery,
12:02Archer appeared on a list
12:03of the most decorated
12:05Starfleet Captains
12:05and most recently
12:06in Star Trek Lower Decks
12:07Strange New Worlds
12:08we got some crossover love
12:09for Archer and the NX-01.
12:11However, the only time
12:12Scott Bakula has reprised
12:14the role of Captain Archer
12:15and not in canon
12:16was for the 2006 video game
12:18Star Trek Legacy
12:19alongside all the
12:21then-series captains.
12:22Arguably, he did appear
12:23in Star Trek Online
12:24but all of his dialogue
12:25was taken from
12:26episodes of Enterprise.
12:27Legacy is very much
12:28now the spirit of things
12:29and Scott Bakula
12:30is one of those actors
12:31who has opened
12:31to a return to the franchise.
12:33Nothing has ever
12:33been confirmed
12:34but the rumours
12:35continue to abound.
12:36Return or no,
12:37Archer's time
12:38really is
12:39finally here.
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13:25That's everything
13:25for our list, folks.
13:26Thank you very much.
13:27Thank you so much
13:28to the wonderful
13:28Jack Kiley
13:29for writing the article
13:30upon which this video
13:31is based.
13:31Please make sure
13:32you go over
13:32and check that out
13:32on whatculture.com.
13:34I have been Sean Farrick.
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